Croatan’s Sammy Jo Layko a strong thrower – and much more

If Croatan High School sophomore Sammy Jo Layko was listed on the New York Stock Exchange instead of being one of the state’s best throwers of the discus and shot put, the 16-year-old would be an investment manager’s dream.

If Croatan High School sophomore Sammy Jo Layko was listed on the New York Stock Exchange instead of being one of the state’s best throwers of the discus and shot put, the 16-year-old would be an investment manager’s dream.

Talk about diversified.

Want tough? How about being the only girl playing football in middle school? And not just a football player, but a tight end and defensive lineman.

“It was fun,” said Layko, who (no fooling) was born April 1.

How about some culture to leaven that toughness? Well, Layko plays the piano and used to play the saxophone, which she yearned to take up after seeing a bunch of monkeys play the instrument in a movie.

“I’m going to get back to that during the summer,” she said.

And just for good measure, she also sings opera. Yes, opera, and although she can go higher — Layko sang soprano in the church choir — her teacher keeps her at A-flat so as not to strain her voice.

“I told my mom I wanted singing lessons, thinking it’d be a different thing,” Layko said. “She said I found you a teacher, and I said, ‘She’s an opera singer.’”

But you won’t find Layko, who also play (or has played) volleyball, basketball and softball at Croatan, singing when she gets in the circle to throw the shot put or discus, however. She may let out a grunt as she twirls before firing either of the projectiles into the stratosphere.

With personal bests of 121 feet, 3 inches in the discus and 34-8 in the shot put, Lakyo would have to be one of the favorites going into the NCHSAA East Regional at Wilson Beddingfield High School on Saturday.

The regionals coincide with a big weekend of high school track, with the state 1-A finals today and the state 3-A championships Saturday. The 2-A championships are next weekend. All three are at N.C. A&T State in Greensboro.

(See accompanying chart with area athletes in the 1-A and 3-A state championships.)

Layko, who won both the discus and shot while being named the field MVP at the East Central Conference championships last weekend, is out to be a double winner this year in the regional — she won the discus a year ago at 107-4 — while earning a trip to the state championships.

The top four in each event advance.

But if she can’t win both, Layko’s next goal is a “PR,” track lingo for personal record.

Since she took up the sport in the seventh grade, however, few have out thrown Layko, who considers Croatan’s Scott McBride “her coach” and Mike Rowland as her throws coach. Layko also throws the javelin and hammer The Pride Track and Field program in Jacksonville, which Rowland oversees.

Page 2 of 3 - From the start, Layko said she liked throwing, whatever might be in her hand.

“I was, I don’t want to say I’m a natural at it, but I had potential,” she said, “and coach saw that.”

And while Layko had the talent, Rowland said she also had more.

“She’s got the physical attributes of a thrower,” he said. “She’s tall. She’s long. She’s really strong through the legs and core, and she focuses. That’s probably the one thing. she comes to practice, she’s there to practice.

“She does not screw around like other teenagers. She comes, she works. She’s almost one that you’ve got to tell stop practicing because she’ll throw 100 times a practice and want to do another throwing event.”

Beyond that, Rowland said Layko can “pretty much throw anything.” And she still has plenty of upside in both the discus and shot put.

“She’s got a lot more in her. Just for her size and athletic ability alone, there’s no reason she couldn’t be a 40-foot shot putter. And her discus, her footwork is solid. We just got to get her body position right and she’ll be a 130-foot thrower,” he said.

“With her numbers right now, if she keeps improving the way she does, I would say by her senior year she will probably a highly recruited track athlete.”

With two years left in high school along with the rest of this track season, Layko isn’t much worried about her college prospects, although she said that if she should be a track scholarship “I definitely would take it.”

While she enjoys both events, Layko said she is clearly better at the discus, partly because she has “string bean arms” that do, however, have good length, which allows her to have a strong arm whip in the discus.

“And I can be faster,” she added, “and it’s just more smooth than the shot put is I feel like.”

You also get the impression she likes the discus more.

“The shot put you have to be more controlled with how you hold your arms because if you do let that shot put drop back you can destroy your shoulder and your elbow. It’ll snap back, pull your fingers,” she said. “With discus, you can be, I don’t want to say wild, but there’s definitely more room for error.”

Beyond that, the discus is just a bit more aesthetically pleasing with its Star Trek-like look vs. just a heavy medal ball about the size or a softball.

“But the discus can be very fickle at times. It’s just how you release it. You just have to have a nice release with it to be consistent,” Layko said. “But it’s exciting to just see it fly. You can feel when it’s good.”